Ice Breaker

A fun ice breaker using “Would you rather A or B?”. It’s deliberately silly and the classes have had loads of fun with it over the years. It needs to be set up and demonstrated along with giving some rules (I.E., you MUST choose one option / if the choice is “completely bald” then they are not allowed to ‘get hair implants’ later! / and so on).

Partners (A & B) have different questions. Students can start to expand it and add their own questions.

FOR SOME MORE CONSERVATIVE TEACHING CULTURES, SOME OF THE QUESTIONS MAY BE ON THE EDGY SIDE.

Here’s a fun ice breaker that works for most proficiency levels. I’ve used this for years and it has never failed.

You’ll notice there’s some unusual language (for the classroom, at least) in there – “wheelie”, “impression”, “party trick” and so on – that can provoke some interactive problem solving between partners. Also, they are unlikely to have answered these questions in an English class before so I’ve found that the students are more lively and engaged than the usual “What’s your favourite…?” ice breakers.

For lower proficiency levels: By definition, all the questions have Yes/No answers, so for lower levels, it’s a good idea to go through some conversation strategies. It helps prevent them blowing through it in 2 minutes just answering “yes” or “no”. Positive answers need an example. For negative answers, they can “explain why not”, “tell a related story”, or “tell a friend or relative’s story”. I get one student to ask me a question so I can demonstrate the answers.

THERE IS ONE QUESTION SPECIFIC TO SOUTH KOREA (where I teach) BUT YOU CAN USE THIS AS A SPRINGBOARD TO YOUR LOCATION’S ANTHEM.